With the advent of power tools in bone surgery, a new problem of contamination arose. By using high speed rotating cutting tools, small fragments of bone and tissue are thrown from the rotating tool. If any of these fragments come in contact with a non-sterile surface and then fall back upon the surgical field, there is a contamination problem. While the hands and body of a physician or attendant are adequately sterile, the surgeon' s head area, including his face, glasses and the overhead lights are not adequately sterile for indirect contact with the surgical field. For this reason in the past, power tools utilized in bone surgery have been restricted in the manner in which they can be used so as not to throw bone or tissue fragments directly above the surgical field.
With the present invention, a sterile transparent shield is placed directly over the surgical field a sufficient distance thereabove so as not to obstruct the hands or tools of the surgeon. The shield is held in place by one of the hands of an attendant while the surgeon works directly over the area of the surgery. Any particles of bone or tissue which are thrown from the tool contact the sterile under surface of the shield with some of them falling back into the area of surgery without creating any contamination.
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide a sterile surgical shield for use with power tools.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a disposable sterile shield for use over power tools which keeps bone fragments out of the eyes and face of the surgeon and attendants.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a surgical shield for power tool surgery which can be utilized for various types of bone surgery.
Another object of the invention is to shield the attendants during irrigation of an infected area.